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CIPRD is an independent think tank that connects a community of researchers and academics with an interest in the Island Pacific region. It encourages diversity of opinion and a spirit of community and collegiality.

Microfinance has come a long way since Grameen Bank first offered small loans to the poor. Microfinance now offers
a full range of financial services, including savings, insurance, money transfer services and pension schemes. But the
promise of microfinance, of poverty-beating incomes for budding entreprenurs, has failed to materialise.

Chakriya Bowman and Patrick Kilby say that we know now it is investment in people, not simply the provision
of loans, that really makes the difference to the poor. Education should be at the heart of microfinance.
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When Bob Zoellick said that "labout mobility is absolutely critical to the long-term development of the South Pacific", he was reinforcing the fact
that remittances and migration are fundamental to developing country prosperity.

This brief, which draws on work by Richard Brown, CIPRD Fellow and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland, and Patrick Kilby
proposes that well constructed labout mobility programs and well managed remittances offer a path to
prosperity for the Pacific.Download Brief

Of the 100-odd developing countries in the World Trade Organisation, most (76%)
are net food importers. Those without a comparative advantage in agriculture
face negative outcomes from the Doha talks, because the price of basic food
staples will rise.

Chakriya Bowman, CIPRD Senior Fellow, says that south-south trade - trade
between the developing economies themselves - offers the greatest growth and
productivity opportunities, and that south-south trade liberalisation must be
pursued if Least Developed Economies are to benefit.
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As the mid-way point for the Millennium Development Goals approaches, there is
much to be done in the Pacific if the goals are to be met. In 2015, it is
likely that Pacific island countries and their major aid donors will be heavily
criticised for their failure to achieve their MDG targets.

Simon Feeny, CIPRD Fellow and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT University,
says that Australia must help Pacific countries tailor the goals to something
realistic and achievable if there is to be any progress made. Download Brief

Modern aid is based on the fundamental assumption that economic growth reduces poverty, and therefore
growth is good. This assumption underpins development activities in the Pacific. But, as has been noted by most Pacific analysts
over the last 30 years, economic growth in the Pacific has been almost non-existent and in Melanesia it has failed to keep pace with
population growth. This paper, written for UNU-WIDER's Fragile States program, finds evidence that aid has a detrimental impact on smaller economies as it weakens institutions, and therefore undermines growth.
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